Entrepreneur: It's a brand new work world. And I do mean "brand."

It used to be that only large businesses worried about branding. To thrive, they had to distinguish their company from the competition. This meant carving out a niche based on competitive advantages and specific corporate attributes. They crafted and maintained a strategic brand--a unique, useful promise to current and prospective customers--to gain brand equity and loyalty. This was business, after all.

But things have changed. The 21st century is the age of free agents and custom ringtones. Nike doesn't just sponsor Tiger Woods; Tiger Woods sponsors Tiger Woods (check out the personal logo on his cap). Today, branding occurs at the individual level. This is especially noticeable in service industries, but increasingly in others as well. Everything about you, from the type of cell phone you carry and the vocabulary you use, to the brand of coffee you drink, says something about who you are and what you can do for the rest of us.

In business today, your most important job is to promote yourself. You probably won't work the same job from graduation until retirement. More likely, your future depends on leveraging your strengths along a winding career path ripe with possibilities. To take advantage of these opportunities, you need to stand out in a crowd. You must become your own brand.

Know - and Brand - Thyself [Entrepreneur]

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